Impact of Graded Levels of Miracle Leaf (Bryophyllum pinnatum) Powder on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility and Blood Profile of Broiler Chicken

Abstract

A total of two hundred (200) unsexed day-old broiler chicks Ross 308 strain were used to view the impact of varying levels miracle leaf (Bryophyllum pinnatum) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and blood profiles of broiler chickens. The birds were randomly allotted into five dietary treatments of 40 birds and each treatment had 4 replicates of 10 birds each. The treatment includes, T1(control), T2(1g/kg), T3(2g/kg), T4(3g/kg) and T5(4g/kg) arranged in a Completely Randomized Design. Data collected at starter and finisher phases included, growth performance, nutrient digestibility and blood profile. All data obtained were subjected to One-way analysis of variance. The results revealed significant differences (p<0.05) on all parameters measure. The highest numerical value was recorded in treatment 2 (T2) in final live weight (1754.50g) and weight gain per bird per day (61.09g) while the lowest numerical value was recorded in treatment 4 (T4) in final live weight (1360.50g) and weight gain per bird per bird (47.02g). Monocytes and eosinophil were higher in treatment 1 (8.75% and 4.00%), while monocytes is lower in treatment 2 (1.75%) and eosinophil is lower in treatment 5 (1.50%), pack cell volume (PCV),  and basophil were higher in treatment 2 (30.50%, and 4.25%), while pack cell volume is lower in treatment 1 (27.50%), and basophil is lower in treatment 3 (1.25) eosinophil was higher in treatment 3 (5.25%), while lower in treatment 5 (1.50%),lymphocytes was higher in treatment 5 (42.00%) while lower in treatment 4 (29.50%). triglycerides was higher  in treatment 1 (59.00mg/dL) while lower in treatment 3 (44.50 mg/),  Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL-C) and albumin were higher in treatment 3 (77.50mg/dL and 1.98g/dL) while lower in treatment 1 and 2 (43.00 mg/dL and 1.77g/dL), alkaline phosphate (ALP) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were higher in treatment 4 (47.50 IU/L and 111.75 IU/L) while lower in treatment 2 and 1 (23.50 IU/L and 76.50 IU/L), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), total cholesterol, High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL-C), total protein and globulin were higher in T5 (48.50 IU/L, 137.25 mg/dL, 60.10 mg/dL, 4.52 g/dL , and 2.69 g/dL) while lower in T1 (25.75 IU/L and 94.50 mg/dL),  and treatment 4 (34.53 mg/dL 1.81 g/dL, 3.99 g/ dL and 2.19 g/dL).The study concluded that the inclusion of miracle leaf (Bryophyllum pinnatum) in the diet broiler chicken had no detrimental effect on overall performanceat starter and finisher phase. It therefore recommended 1g/kg of miracle leaf (Bryophyllum pinnatum) can be included in the diets of broiler chicken for improve growth performance, carcass yield, nutrient digestibility and blood profile.